Bulls-Knicks Preview

By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO
Posted Dec 20 2012 11:44PM

The New York Knicks seemed to miss Carmelo Anthony against the Chicago Bulls earlier this month.

They'll have him on the court Friday night when they attempt to improve the best home record in the NBA against Joakim Noah and the stingy Bulls.

A lacerated finger on his left hand forced Anthony to miss New York's 93-85 loss at Chicago on Dec. 8. Without the superstar forward, the Knicks (19-6) turned in their worst offensive performance of the season, setting season lows in points and field-goal percentage (32.1).

Anthony had 43 points and hit a 3-pointer with 8.2 seconds left in overtime to secure a 100-99 win over Chicago (14-10) in the most recent matchup at Madison Square Garden on April 8.

Anthony enters this meeting after scoring 31 points on 12-of-22 shooting - 4 of 8 from beyond the arc - in Wednesday's 100-86 win over Brooklyn. It was unclear if he would even play after missing the previous two games with a sprained left ankle.

"He looked good to me," coach Mike Woodson said. "If he's not 100 percent, I'll take whatever percent he was, because that was awesome."

The same could be said for the Knicks' play at home, where they are a league-best 11-1 while averaging 104.8 points per game and 40.7 percent from long range.

New York is 3-1 on this six-game homestand, which ends against Minnesota on Sunday before it opens a three-game trip against the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas.

"It's very important that we finish this home stretch strong before we go out on the road," center Tyson Chandler said. "Coach has preached it through training camp; make sure the Garden is our house, and make sure teams understand that they have to go somewhere else to get a win."

Chandler has heeded that message, averaging 16.3 points and 11.0 rebounds over the last four games. He pulled down a season high-tying 18 boards with 14 points at Chicago two weeks ago, while contending with Noah in a matchup of two of the league's top centers.

Noah, who finished that meeting with 10 points and 11 rebounds, averages 11.0 points and 5.7 boards over his last three visits to MSG.

He was much better than that Tuesday, recording his second career triple-double with 11 points, 13 rebounds and a career high-tying 10 assists in a 100-89 win over Boston.

"(Noah) is amazing man, great passer," forward Carlos Boozer said. "Probably the best passing big man in the league. Underrated, plays hard, has great court vision."

Noah is also known for being tough defensively, and that's helped Chicago rank second in the NBA in scoring defense (90.3).

The Bulls have held 13 of their last 14 opponents under 100 points, and are yielding 86.5 per game during a 4-2 stretch that started with the win over the Knicks.

Boozer also gives Chicago a strong presence up front, and he's looking to build on his 21 points and 12 rebounds against the Celtics.

He had 12 points and 10 boards against New York earlier this month, but averages 18.5 and 13.3, respectively, in 13 road meetings.

The Bulls have won five of six against the Knicks.

Anthony, 3 others tossed as Bulls beat Knicks

By BRIAN MAHONEY
Posted Dec 22 2012 4:47AM

NEW YORK (AP) Bottled up by the Bulls and baffled by the officials, Carmelo Anthony expected to spend the final minutes of the Knicks' loss alone in the locker room.

Turns out the early exodus of Knicks was just beginning.

Coach Mike Woodson and center Tyson Chandler were also ejected from the foul-filled game, and Chicago beat New York for the second time this season, 110-106 on Friday night.

Chandler and Bulls counterpart Joakim Noah were tossed after a fourth-quarter altercation, shortly after Woodson had been ejected following his second technical. He drew a loud ovation during his walk to the back from Knicks fans who angrily booed the officiating for much of the second half.

"I was actually in here, and then I just heard the crowd screaming and yelling, and I walked to the hallway, and Woody was walking back. Then I was actually in the shower, came back and Tyson was sitting right next to me," Anthony said. "So once I saw that, that's how the night was going."

Luol Deng had season highs of 29 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulls despite briefly leaving the game with an injured left shoulder. Marco Belinelli added 22 points as Chicago won for the fourth time in five games.

Anthony finished with 29 points on 10-of-25 shooting, ending his streak of four straight 30-point games. The Knicks lost for the second time in three home games after winning their first 10.

Noah finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in completely outplaying Chandler, who took only one shot and was limited to five points and eight boards.

Chandler insisted he and Noah didn't fight and shouldn't have been ejected from the game that featured nine technicals.

"It was just an ugly game in general and then things contributed from there," Chandler said.

Kirk Hinrich had 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Bulls, who were totally shutting the Knicks down until allowing 45 mostly meaningless points in the fourth quarter after Chicago had led by 25 in the third.

"You get a 25-point lead on the road against a team like this, you're doing a lot of good things," Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau said. "I'm disappointed with our approach and discipline in the fourth quarter, starting with my fourth-quarter technical. So we gave up 45 points and that's not good. That's not the way we want to close a game."

The Knicks were held to season lows of 85 points and 32.1 percent shooting in an eight-point loss in Chicago on Dec. 8, when Anthony was sidelined by a cut on his finger that required stitches. Woodson said before the game he thought the Knicks got good shots that night and just missed them, expecting his team would deliver a better performance at home with Anthony in the lineup.

Instead, the Knicks were never really in the game on a rare off night from Anthony, the NBA's second-leading scorer. The score got close in the final minutes, but the outcome had long been decided.

Anthony was called for his second technical, earning an automatic ejection, with 6:45 left after he was whistled for a foul on Noah's offensive rebound and apparently said something to referee Olandis Poole.

Once the game got away from the Knicks, so did their emotions, questioning calls that were made or arguing for ones that weren't. Chandler and Noah were battling for a rebound when they got tangled up and began jawing, and may have even made contact with their heads before they were separated.

"(Things) were definitely escalating, but I don't think they're used to being down that much, too," Noah said. "If they were up 20 points, I don't think they would have been that frustrated."

The fans weren't happy, either. Spike Lee stood a couple of feet behind referee Zach Zarba from his courtside seat in the fourth quarter, staring a hole through Zarba after one call went against the Knicks.

The Knicks had much bigger problems than the officiating.

They missed 10 of their first 11 shots as Chicago raced to a 14-2 lead. The advantage grew to 30-17 when Deng made a 3-pointer, and Belinelli followed with a free throw after Anthony was called for a technical foul after arguing a no-call on the other end. New York got it down to 30-23 when J.R. Smith made a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer.

"I think from the jump they were the more physical team from the beginning of the game and it carried out throughout the whole game. It kind of got to us a little bit," Anthony said. "We reacted rather than coming out from the jump being the more aggressive team and we found ourselves in a hole, and by the time we tried to be aggressive it was a little bit too late at that point in time."

The Knicks cut it to 42-37 midway through the second quarter before their offense stalled again. Chicago scored 12 straight points, taking its biggest lead at 54-37 on a free throw by Carlos Boozer with 10.9 seconds remaining, before Anthony stopped the Knicks' 5-minute scoreless drought with a driving layup with 3.2 seconds to go.

Smith had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who fell to 19-7. Their 19 wins through 25 games was bettered only twice in franchise history, when they were 23-2 in 1969-70 and 20-5 in 1972-73. They won the NBA title both times.

Deng appeared to hurt his left shoulder in the third quarter when Jason Kidd reached in on him, but returned to the game after using a heating pad on the bench.

NOTES: With Amare Stoudemire getting close to returning from left knee surgery, Woodson said he will talk to the forward Saturday about how he is feeling. Stoudemire practiced twice this week with the Knicks' NBA Development League team so he could scrimmage, since the Knicks weren't holding full-court practices. Woodson said he wasn't sure if Stoudemire would be able to play Sunday. ... The Bulls are 6-1 against the Atlantic Division. ... Former Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand was at the game and received a long, loud ovation when a segment about his paralysis was shown on the video board.

Notebook: Bulls 110, Knicks 106

Adam Zagoria, For NBA.com
Posted Fri Dec 21, 2012 11:04 PM - Updated Fri Dec 21, 2012 11:21 PM

THE FACTS: Mike Woodson, Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler and Joakim Noah were all ejected on a wild night as the Chicago Bulls handled the New York Knicks 110-106 on Friday, giving them just the second loss this season at Madison Square Garden.

For the Bulls, Luol Deng tallied season-highs of 29 points and 13 rebounds, Marco Belinelli added 22 points, Kirk Hinrich had 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and Noah tallied 15 points and 12 boards.

Anthony was ejected in the fourth period after committing his second technical foul and finished with 29 points. J.R. Smith added 26 points and 10 boards off the bench.

Woodson followed Anthony's departure with his second technical, leaving assistant Herb Williams to coach the Knicks. Noah and Chandler then exited when they got into a shoving and shouting match.

The Bulls are now 2-0 against the Knicks this season.

The Bulls (15-10) have won four of five and seven of nine, while the Knicks (19-7) have dropped two of three.

QUOTABLE: "I don't think they're used to being down that much. If they were up 20 points, I don't think they would've been that frustrated. We'll be playing this team a lot and they're a very good team. They played very hard and I'm just happy we won right now."

-- Joakim Noah

THE STAT: Chandler, Ronnie Brewer, Jason Kidd and Steve Novak combined to give the Knicks 13 points, with Brewer and Novak going scoreless.

TURNING POINT: The Bulls outscored the Knicks 24-16 in the second period to extend their lead to 54-39 at the break. Deng had six points in the period. Chicago then outscored the Knicks 29-22 in the third to push the edge to 83-61 after three. The Knicks got to within single digits in the final minutes, but couldn't overcome the deficit.

QUOTABLE II: "Bad coaching tonight. We'll get through this and regroup and get ready for Sunday's game starting tomorrow. ... You've gotta give Chicago credit. They played great tonight and [were] able to come out of here with a win."

-- Knicks coach Mike Woodson

HOT: Deng scored more than 20 points for the second straight game, following a 21-point outing Dec. 18 in a 100-89 win over Boston.

NOT: Brewer entered averaging 5.8 points as the starting small forward, and could be replaced in the starting lineup when Amar'e Stoudemire returns. He has not scored more than four points in his last four games.

NOTABLE: Woodson will huddle with Stoudemire Saturday morning to map out the power forward's schedule leading up to his return. Woodson did not rule out Stoudemire making his debut for Sunday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but gave no firm return date. "I still don't know yet," Woodson said. "I'm going to sit and probably have a long talk with him [Saturday] morning when I get into the office over at our training facility, and I will sit down and talk and just kind of map out and see where he is." After Sunday, the Knicks visit the Lakers Tuesday, Phoenix Wednesday and Sacramento next Friday, so it's possible he could debut on the road.

NOTABLE II: Bulls point guard Derrick Rose went in the non-contact part of practice for the first time this season on Thursday. "It's going to be a while," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said before Friday morning's shootaround, according to ESPNChicago.com. "He's just got to go step by step. This is all the normal course of his rehab, he's doing fine." Thibodeau added before the game: "You can never replace a guy like Derrick, individually. We have to do it collectively. We have a lot of guys stepping up and playing well. Our bench is coming around for us, and we know we have to defend, rebound and share the ball. If we do that, we'll have a chance to win."

QUOTABLE III: "You got a 25-point lead on the road against a team like this, you're doing a lot of good things. I'm disappointed in our poise and discipline in the fourth quarter."

-- Tom Thibodeau

QUOTABLE IV: "I'm pretty sure the refs knew the calls that they missed. It was a tough night; it was a tough game. [A] Chicago-New York game will always be a physical game. We see them again [Jan. 11], though, back here in the Garden. We will be prepared for that."

-- Carmelo Anthony

INSIDE THE ARENA: Billy Crudup (Almost Famous) and Jerry Ferrara (Entourage) sat courtside.

UP NEXT: For the Knicks, Sunday vs. Minnesota, Tuesday @ Lakers, Wednesday @ Phoenix. For the Bulls, Saturday @ Atlanta, Tuesday vs. Houston, Wednesday @ Indiana.

• Bulls: Rose
• Knicks: Shumpert, Stoudemire

• Bulls: Noah, Noah, Thibodeau
• Knicks: Anthony, Anthony, Chandler, Smith, Woodson, Woodson

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• Officials: #28 Zach Zarba, #30 John Goble, #50 Olandis Poole
• Attendance: 19033
• Duration: 2:30